November 18, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
179 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
Orchid Growers' Calendar. 
Cattleya House.— Odontoglossum citrosmum has 
made up splendid bulbs, and the plants will require 
to be kept on the dry side from now onwards, with¬ 
out allowing the bulbs to shrivel to any great 
extent. We place ours in a position where they get 
plenty of light, and as far away from the drying 
influence of the hot-water pipes as possible. Grown 
almost fully exposed to the sun, during the autumn 
they make good bulbs which carry foliage of a deep 
green colour and of great thickness. 
Masdevallia TOVARENSis is just now opening its 
pretty white flowers in quantity, and which form a 
good contrast to the high coloured Cattleya labiata. 
Coming into flower now enhances its value consider¬ 
ably, and makes it one of the most popular of the 
genus amongst amateurs. It is easily grown too, 
and if kept moderately warm during winter will 
always flower freely. We repot our plants every 
season, using peat and. moss in about equal parts. 
This may be done as early in the year as possible. 
Undoubtedly they have a more telling effect when 
in large masses, but I do not think they do so well 
for long as when grown in small pots. It is the 
practice of some growers to grow them in small pots 
the greater part of the year and move them when 
coming into flower. I think this is preferable to 
keeping them in large pans all the year through. 
Sickly-looking plants I would certainly break up 
into pieces large enough to All 6o-sized pots. This 
should be the means adopted should it be necessary 
to increase the stock, for unless they are divided 
they do not make back breaks freely. 
Moisture in the Houses. —The atmosphere in 
the Cattleya house must be kept much drier as the 
days become shorter and the nights colder ; but as to 
the exact amount of water to be thrown on the 
stages and paths it would be impossible to determine, 
as the structure of the houses, the quantity of 
piping, and last, but not least, the locality has so 
much to do with the management that no hard and 
fast lines can be laid down. The practical cultivator 
will know on entering any division whether the 
atmospheric conditions, as well as the temperature, 
are right without consulting any appliance pro¬ 
vided for that purpose. 
Firing. —As I write the thermometer indicates 5° 
of frost, which, if appearances go for anything, will 
reach 10° before morning, to be followed with bright 
sunshine as it has been to-day (Monday). Thisisthe 
kind of weather to test the ability of the man on 
duty. A good man always has his fire well in hand, 
and rarely allows fire-heat and sun-heat to clash. 
This is most important in the successful culture of 
most things, and above all of Orchids. All our fires 
are drawn on bright mornings, and lighted again 
early in the afternoon. A good stock of dry logs 
should be at hand for getting a quick fire first thing 
in the morning should the temperature be low. We 
shall reduce the temperature given in the previous 
calendar at night should it keep cold.—C. 
Odontoglossum crispum ferrierense. 
The Ferrieres variety of this the most popular and 
most widely-cultivated species of Odontoglossum, 
adds one more to the numerous very fine forms 
already in cultivation. The flowers are of the 
beautifully rounded type, with broad, overlapping 
sepals and petals that are jagged or toothed at the 
edges. They are suffused with bright lilac-rose, 
especially along the centre, and each has a large 
rich brown blotch in the middle. The white colour 
is therefore almost hidden by the rich overlaid 
colouring. The lip shows a greater amount of white 
and has several smaller reddish-purple blotches in 
front of the orange-yellow crest. It flowered last 
May for the first time in the rich collection of Baron 
Alphonse de Rothschild, Chateau de Ferrieres, and 
is well portrayed by a coloured illustration in the 
Lindenia pi. 381. 
Miltonia Warscewiczii. 
In gardens this has been hampered with a cumbrous 
synonymy for many years, and the correct name is 
now beginning to be tardily recognised. It is more¬ 
over one of the handsomest species of the genus 
when well grown. The flowers are of large and 
appreciable size when well treated, and have oblong 
purple sepals and petals tipped with white. As in 
most other species the lip is the most attractive 
feature of the flower, and is purple with a broad 
white margin and a curious shiny brown blotch, of 
considerable size, in the centre. There is also a 
yellow blotch at t he base, so that the species is 
curious and interesting as well as beautiful. A 
handsome plate of it is given in the Lindenia pi. 384. 
Ornithocephalus grandiflorus. 
The whole plant of this beautiful species is of small 
size, not much exceeding 6 in. high, and may be 
dwarfer, as the racemes of bloom assume an arching 
habit. It is, besides, well adapted for culture in 
small baskets hung up near the glass, and is there¬ 
fore an easily accommodated subject where house 
room is restricted. The oblong, dark green leaves 
are freely produced, evergreen, and serve as an ex¬ 
cellent set-off for the flowers, which are well raised 
above them. The segments of the flowers are white 
with a large green blotch at the base of each, making 
a beautiful combination. The illustration in the 
Orchid Album, pi. 472, represents the plant faithfully, 
except that' it gives too much prominence to the 
green. The best compost for it is peat and chopped 
sphagnum; and as it comes from Southern 
Brazil, a high temperature is unnecessary, in fact, 
injurious. 
Oncidium phymatochilum. 
The native country of this Orchid was for a long 
time uncertain, until it was discovered in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Nova Friburgo, in Brazil. The flowers 
have a distinct appearance in a genus where the 
species are so numerous that a considerable amount 
of sameness prevails. They are produced in a large, 
spreading panicle. The sepals and petals are of un¬ 
usual length, linear, recurved at the tip more or less 
twisted, greenish-yellow and spotted with deep 
orange-red. The lip is white, the crest yellow, 
spotted with orange, and moreover much broader 
and shorter than the other segments. A good 
illustration is given of it in the Orchid Album, pi. 
470. 
-r -*t-- 
PRUNING FRUIT TREES. 
To go into an old-established garden and find Apple 
and other trees with dead pieces about 6 in. 
in length standing out from the stems and main 
branches which ought to have been cut close in, is, 
I hope, a not very common experience, yet instances 
may be found where such is the case, and the 
infallable result is that these pieces decay and rot 
away into the main stems, leaving holes which would 
not have been there but for the unskilful pruning. 
It would be a good thing if every aspirant to the 
position of a gardener had to undergo a practical 
ordeal before a competent authority, then possibly 
employers would place more confidence in them 
than they oftentimes do. As regards outdoor gar¬ 
dening, a proper training in fruit tree pruning is of 
the very first importance to young men, because no 
mere rule-of-thumb practice will hold good for all 
places and all trees. We prune, or ought to do so, 
to give the wood left ample space and light, that fruit 
buds may be properly developed, but to do this 
judiciously is of paramount importance, because an 
excess of pruning will lead to strong woody growths 
in robust trees. These require quite difierent 
handling to those of weaker growth, which may 
often be thinned out and shortened back with advan¬ 
tage to an extent which, in the case of stronger 
growing trees, would render them fruitless for some 
years.— -W. B. G. 
-- 
Celery, Lamouneux White Perfection. 
Of Celeries, as of must other kinds of vegetables, 
there is a large number of varieties in cultivation, 
good, bad, and indifferent. Most growers no doubt 
pin their faith to some one or more particular sorts, 
and all will doubtless agree that there are more 
reliable red sorts than there are white ones. For 
years I have been trying to get a really good 
medium-sized white variety, which I prefer to the 
tall or the dwarf ones, and having tried a great 
many, I had almost come to the conclusion that 
there was not such a sort in existence. Last year, 
however, I obtained a packet of seed under the above 
name, and although I only grew a few plants as a 
trial, I was so much pleased with it that this year I 
am growing four times the quantity, and find it even 
better than before.— Con. 
THE WORLD’S HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
A CIRCULAR has been issued by the officers of this 
Society, from which we glean the following particu¬ 
lars respecting its formation and intended pro¬ 
gramme:—Immediately following the World's 
Congress on Horticulture at Chicago in August last, 
a series of meetings was held to consider the 
advisability of organizing a horticultural society 
which shall include every country of the globe. 
After much discussion, in which many eminent men 
from various parts of the world engaged, the World's 
Horticultural Society was organized, and the 
election of the three general officers was held on the 
25th of August. This new Society is designed in the 
language of the constitution, " to promote corres¬ 
pondence and to facilitate exchange of plants and 
information between the countries of the world.” 
This Society can co-ordinate and extend the work 
of all existing secieties, compile statistics, promote 
legislation and education, prepare correspondence 
directories, diffuse all the latest information from 
the various parts of the globe, consider means of 
transportation, and facilitate the exchange of varie¬ 
ties and every commodity in which pomologists, 
viticulturists, florists, vegetable gardeners, and other 
horticulturists are interested. The Society will 
probably meet occasionally at the various Inter¬ 
national Exhibitions, upon which occasions, also, it 
can greatly aid in procuring exhibits from all parts 
of the world. The following is the 
Constitution of the Society. 
This body shall be known as the World's Horti¬ 
cultural Society. 
The object of this society shall be to promote 
correspondence and to facilitate exchange of plants 
and information between the countries of the world. 
The membership of this society shall be composed 
of societies in the various countries and of indi¬ 
viduals, who shall subscribe to its eons tithtion and 
pay the membership fees. 
The officers of this society shall consist of a 
president, vice-president and a secretary-treasurer; 
also a vice-president and secretary-treasurer in each 
country, independent state or province, whenever 
suitable persons can be found who are willing to 
undertake the duties of such office. The officers 
shall constitute an executive committee, which may 
call meetings on such occasions of interest as may 
be deemed worthy. 
The term of office of all officers of this society 
shall be three years, and until their successors are 
duly elected and qualified. 
The vice-president in each country shall be 
appointed, at the outset, by the president of the 
World's Horticultural Society, after conference with 
the foreign representatives at the World's Columbian 
Exposition, or upon correspondence with horti¬ 
culturists in the various countries. 
The vice-president of each country shall appoint 
the secretary-treasurer for that country. 
The fee for societies shall be 5 dols. annually, or as 
near that amount as the currency of the country 
readily admits. The initial fee for irtdividuals shall 
be 2 dols., or approximately that amount, which 
fee shall also be the dues for the remainder of the 
current calendar year. The annual dues thereafter 
shall be one-half that sum. 
The funds shall be spent by the Executive Com¬ 
mittee for the necessary expenses of the society, 
which shall allow one-third of all the collections in 
each country to be retained there for its own expenses 
and to be disbursed by its own secretary, except in 
the country represented by the president, where all 
the funds collected shall be retained ; but that 
country shall pay its share of the general expenses 
The Executive Committee has power to publish a 
periodical of the size and frequency of issue 
warranted by the funds, and which shall be sent 
free to all members of the society. In the absence 
of meetings of the Executive Committee, the presi¬ 
dent, first vice-president, secretary-treasurer, and 
the secretary-treasurer of the country represented 
by the president, shall constitute a Finance Com¬ 
mittee, which shall audit the accounts of the society, 
any two of whom shall constitute a quorum. 
The president, first vice-president, secretary- 
treasurer, and secretary-treasurer of the country 
represented by the president, constitute the Com¬ 
mittee on By-Laws of the World’s Horticultural 
Society, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum. 
Adopted by a meeting of horticulturists of various 
countries, in Chicago, Aug. 23, 1893. 
